Back
14.11.2021Bayer 04

#InternationalWerkself: Diaby provides assist

Bayer 04 player Moussa Diaby secured progress to the World Cup finals with France on Saturday night. The forward provided an assist in the 8-0 runaway victory against Kazakhstan. After an important 3-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Werkself keeper Lukas Hradecky with Finland moves up to second place in Group D.
crop_imago1008013786h.jpg

It was an impressive performance by Moussa Diaby in a Les Bleus shirt: In the 8-0 victory for France against Kazakhstan, the Leverkusen player not only helped ensure qualification for the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar but also played a significant role on the pitch: Just one minute after coming off the bench, the 22-year-old appeared to have scored his first goal for the Equipe Tricolore but it was ruled out due to Kylian Mbappe being offside (73'). Shortly after that, he fed the ball through to the same superstar from Paris Saint-Germain for his fourth goal and the final strike in the 8-0 scoreline (87').

The next international for the French side is on Tuesday night, 16 November (kick-off: 20.45 CET) against Bayer 04 teammate Lukas Hradecky and his Finnish compatriots. However, the match is not crucial for the group leaders – Diaby and Co. are certain to finish top.

Hradecky and eagle owls move up

Lukas Hradecky with Finland secured an important 3-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday. In spite of being a man down after 37 minutes, the Eagle Owls, with an in-form Leverkusen goalkeeper, produced an impressive performance and moved up to second place in Group D with the win.

Finland need to get a result against France and Diaby on Tuesday to qualify for the World Cup and protect their place in the table against Ukraine. They play Bosnia-Herzegovina at the same time.

Tapsoba and Kossounou go full distance

Edmond Tapsoba was in action with Burkina Faso on Friday. The game against Niger ended in a 1-1 draw. That means Tapsoba and Co. are second in Group A in the Africa World Cup qualifiers. The 22-year-old played the full 90 minutes. On Tuesday, 16 November (kick-off: 17.00 CET), Burkina Faso play the current group leaders Algeria.

Odilon Kossounou featured for the Ivory Coast on Saturday night. The 20-year-old also went the full distance and was able to celebrate a 3-0 win against Mozambique with his teammates. That puts the Ivory Coast top of Group D with 13 out of a possible 15 points from five games. The next match on Tuesday (kick-off: 20.00 CET) is against Cameroon who are currently in second place on 12 points.

Remaining internationals involving Bayer 04 players:

Jonathan Tah (World Cup qualifier)

14.11, 18.00 CET, Armenia vs Germany, Yerevan

Lukas Hradecky (World Cup qualifier)

16.11, 20.45 CET, Finland vs France, Helsinki

Moussa Diaby (World Cup qualifier)

16.11, 20.45 CET, Finland vs France, Helsinki

Jeremie Frimpong (U21 Euro qualifier)

15.11, 14.00 CET, Gibraltar U21 vs Netherlands U21, Gibraltar

Amine Adli (U21 Euro qualifier)

16.11, 18.30 CET, Macedonia U21 vs France U21, Skopje

Exequiel Palacios (World Cup qualifier)

17.11, 00.30 CET, Argentina vs Brazil, San Juan

Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifiers)

17.11., 01.15 CET, Chile vs Ecuador, Santiago de Chile

Edmond Tapsoba (World Cup qualifier)

16.11, 17.00 CET, Algeria vs Burkina Faso, Blida

Odilon Kossounou (World Cup qualifier)

16.11, 20.00 CET, Cameroon vs Ivory Coast, Yaoundé

Emrehan Gedikli (U19 Euro qualifier)

16.11, 14.00 CET, Greece U19 vs Germany U19, Nafpaktos

Iker Bravo (U19 Euro qualifier)

16.11, 18.00 CET, Belgium U19 vs Spain U19, Bissen

Zidan Sertdemir (U19 friendly)

16.11, 11.00 CET, Portugal U19 vs Denmark U19, Capital do Movel

Related News

Paulina Bartz wechselt zum HSV
Women - 01.07.2026

Paulina Bartz makes permanent move to Hamburger SV

Attacking midfielder Paulina Bartz is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen for good on a permanent move to Hamburger SV in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. The 21-year-old, who was on loan to the newly promoted side in the winter, originally had a contract to 2027.

Show more
Fußball Akademie
Football Academy - 01.07.2026

Bayer 04 Football School becomes Bayer 04 Football Academy

The Bayer 04 Football School opened in 2007 – now this successful programme is getting a new name and a new logo: with immediate effect, the Bayer 04 Football School powered by BarmeniaGothaer is becoming the Bayer 04 Football Academy powered by BarmeniaGothaer.

Show more
Rudi Vollborn
Bayer 04 - 01.07.2026

Rudi recounts…: Vollborn July highlights

Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…

Show more
Abholung Sitzschalen
Sustainability - 30.06.2026

For a good cause: Blau-Gelbe Kreuz collects BayArena seating

The sustainable use of the BayArena seats removed as part of the current stadium upgrade has taken on a new dimension: Following on from numerous Bayer 04 fans receiving their ‘Undefeated Champions seats’ and various clubs and community organisations from Leverkusen and the wider region having collected the dismantled seats, Blau-Gelbe Kreuz e.V. also made their way to the BayArena recently. The German-Ukrainian aid organisation took away around 2,100 seats; in Ukraine, these will be used to upgrade the sports infrastructure of two clubs.

Show more